The Downfall Timeline
Book 1
Chapter 11: The Dark Messenger
Lake Hylia was located in the southern lowlands of Hyrule. Set within a deep basin, sheer cliffs rose which acted as a natural barrier to outsiders. Ages ago, the King's stonemasons had carved a wide roadway through the northernmost cliffs, and extended the King's Highway all the way down to the lakeside.
On that roadway, in line with the hills, a small iron gate had been erected – as a gesture of respect toward the Zora, who maintained the Temple of Water beneath the lake's surface. Now that gate remained closed and was reinforced with a bulwark of stone and wood.
Small watchtowers were quickly built on both sides and archers stood watch day and night for any approaching threat.
Once he was armed again, gate-duty was the closest Lord Alfon would allow his squire to approach the dangers of the war. Still too small to draw a soldier's bow, Link's task was to act as a runner for the guards and raise the alarm if they saw anything coming.
It was here, 6 months after his arrival at the lake, that the young hero re-entered the war.
Dawn, January 17, 610 GK, The War of Imprisonment, Day 185
Main Gate, Lake Hylia
It was an early winter morning and the icy breeze blew over the guards from the lake's surface. Link shivered and drew his fur-lined cloak closer about him. Everything in sight was covered in a blanket of grayish snow; giving the land a look of pale dead skin.
The young squire had spent hundreds of hours on this watchtower, staring into the nothingness. His boredom and impatience slowly rose as the long, cold days dragged by. The war had continued in a stalemate as the Hylians failed to advance in every campaign and Ganon's forces remained patient within the castle -except for the odd night raid.
The young soldier was forced to work out his frustrations through his exercises with the marshal: physical conditioning, hand to hand combat, swordplay, and other martial disciplines; but these long watches on the wall were steadily becoming too much for him to bear.
He daydreamed of slipping away from the lake and returning to the Forbidden Forest. He would find Saria and the other Kokiri alive in some remote refuge in the Lost Woods. But here, the daydreams usually fell apart. The Kokiri could not leave the forest and Link would be unwilling to stay with them while the war raged on outside – ever threatening to find and consume them.
He was brought out of his dream by a nudge from the archer beside him. In the distance, on the road, a small black spot crept over the horizon. Tiny at first, it became larger and larger as it approached, eventually taking the shape of a man.
Sometimes messenger-riders would appear unexpectedly and the guards would shout their challenges and exchange the pass-words with the newcomers before opening the gate. Very few, however, ever approached the gate on foot and this man seemed to be staggering and confused.
"Something is wrong..." muttered the soldier, "He's hurt."
Indeed, the man swayed and stumbled; holding his right arm under his left as if he had suffered some serious wound.
"Go for the healers boy! Go!" urged the archer as others cried out to the man to halt and declare himself.
Link quickly climbed down from the tower and ran as fast as he could back toward the lake. He had only managed to cover half of the distance before the sound of a moblin's horn shook the air around him. Looking back, he could hear the clash of steel coming from the road.
Several arrows began streaking back-and-forth between the towers and the attackers outside the gate. The boy frantically tried to decide what he should do: run for the healers as ordered or return to the gate and fight.
A loud scream from one of the soldiers made Link's mind up. He charged back toward the gate and drew his weapon.
A small squad of moblins had been following the wounded man and ambushed the gate when it was opened for him. Two were on horseback, firing arrows at the guard towers, while three more attacked the guards on foot.
The hylian who had opened the gates now lay dead with several arrows stuck in his chest. The archers in the towers were frantically trying to shoot the mounted moblins and fend off the others who were climbing the ladders.
The beasts took no notice of the little squire when he approached, so he charged toward the nearest attacker - which was attempting to climb the western watchtower's ladder.
Without hesitation, the boy buried his sword into the monster's back with a fierce cry - he was finally fighting back! The creature shrieked as black blood spewed out over Link's arm. He swiftly drew the blade back out again and hacked off its head in a clean stroke.
As its body slumped to the ground, the hero's heart was flooded with adrenalin - he did it! He killed one of Ganon's monsters!
An enraged roar alerted him to the other two moblins close by. They had given up on the towers and now charged toward him. Ducking, rolling, and dodging, the valiant squire desperately avoided being sliced or bludgeoned by the beasts.
They were much larger than him and possessed incredible strength, his only hope would be to tire them out and to wait for an opening to attack. As Link distracted the two moblins on the ground, the archers above were free to focus on the mounted menace outside the gate, who soon fell or fled.
But the boy's strategy did not work very well. The moblins seemed to also have great stamina and he soon found himself panting hard for breath. He was slowing and their weapons began to clip his mail shirt and cloak as he struggled to continue dodging their attacks.
Suddenly, an arrow from the watchtowers struck one in the back. It was an opening! Link lunged forward and sliced the beast's throat open. More black blood gurgled out as the monster sank to the ground and the boy turned to face the final enemy.
The last moblin, slightly larger than the other two and wearing a mail tunic, gave a furious roar as it swung a heavy two-handed hammer down upon him. With no time to dodge, the little warrior lifted his shield and tried to simply block the attack.
The weapon struck his shield squarely and shattered it to pieces. The boy felt a surge of pain and an odd "pop" come from his forearm as he was knocked backward. Arrows continued to rain down upon the beast - sticking into its arms and back - but failed to draw its attention.
It bore down on the injured squire, fangs bared, ready to kill the one that had slayed its comrades. Link, pushing himself to a seated position with his good arm, tried to back away from the moblin. He had dropped his sword, which now lay behind his advancing enemy. It raised its hammer again and the boy instinctively tried to shield himself with his other arm - this was the end.
The horn-call had been a foolish assumption of victory by Ganon's minions. They believed that if they took the hylian guards by surprise, that the gate would quickly fall and their raiding party could enter to the lakeside and cause great harm.
But the guards' resistance had proven more stubborn than they expected and bought precious time. Alfon, and the other soldiers by the lake had heard the horn and rushed forward with weapons in hand. As two dozen more mounted moblins charged the outer gate, the great knight and his company reached Link and the inner bulwark.
With a warcry of "For the Goddess!" from their marshal, the company charged forward with an angry roar.
The moblin-captain standing over the squire turned and attempted to fight the mighty warrior, but was swiftly cloven in two and collapsed. The two forces slammed into one another between the gates to the lake.
Though the moblins had attacked by surprise, they were now vastly outnumbered and soon withdrew to the north.
Once he was confident the enemy had fled for good, Alfon hurried back to his young ward. The boy was lying on his back beside the dead moblin captain, sobbing in great pain. His right arm had been shattered by the hammer-strike and a small piece of bone now stuck out through his flesh.
The Marshal sheathed his sword and quickly lifted him up, shouting, "Corin! Take charge! - Make way, wounded man here! Make way!"
At a full sprint, he rushed Link back to the temple and laid him in the infirmary. The boy had tried several times to tell Alfon he was sorry, but his master just hushed him, "it's alright lad, you did well! You did well!"
The healers gave the injured squire a drink to dull his senses and set to work on his arm. The last thing he remembered seeing was Alfon kneeling beside his bed. The marshal did his best to remain calm and stoic for his soldiers, but his eyes betrayed how worried he was for the boy and his hands were shaking.
Link slipped in and out of consciousness throughout the next day. Sometimes the nurses would check the brace on his arm. Other times, someone would gently urge him to drink from a bowl pressed to his lips. Once, he heard voices speaking nearby. His senses were still too blurry to catch much, but he was certain he had heard Zelda's voice.
On the third day, he woke - groggy but able to grasp his surroundings. The room was dimly lit by a few candles, but the boy could see the nurse on duty at the far end of the room, checking other patients. Alfon was seated on a wooden stool next to Link's bed - his chin resting on his breastplate as he softly snored. He had not left his squire's side once since the young ward arrived.
Across the room, in the bed opposite where they sat, was another badly injured man. Link tried to lift himself up, but his right arm throbbed painfully and he felt very wobbly and weak. His master jolted awake at his movement and looked down at him.
"Well, here he is!" he smiled, "Back from fighting monsters and chasing nightmares eh lad?"
Unable to steady himself properly, Link gave up the effort and lay his head back down on his pillow.
"What... happened?" he asked after a few moments' rest.
"Oh, don't worry about that now lad. Just rest and get well!" Alfon replied, tussling the boy's hair.
But his squire was adamant, "No... I need to know... what happened? Is everyone alright?"
The marshal considered him for a moment and decided that the boy wouldn't rest unless he told him.
"The moblins attacked. We lost the gate guard, but you and the archers were able to keep the others busy while the rest of us charged up. There were more moblins waiting outside, but they did not make it to the lake."
Link closed his eyes and felt relieved. He grieved the loss of the guard with the gate-keys, but he was glad the enemy did not make it to the townspeople beside the lake.
"The archers told me what you did son." His master continued, "That was very brave."
The details of the fight came rushing back into the boy's mind. The roaring moblins, the black blood, the screams of the wounded guard; it was a terrifying scene. How did he do it? How did he keep moving and fighting?
After a moment Link mumbled, "I... disobeyed orders."
Alfon looked confused - the soldiers at the gate had said nothing about any wrongdoing on Link's part.
"They told me to go for the healers when we saw the hurt man... I ran back and fought the moblins instead" Link admitted.
"Ahh," said the knight, looking over at the wounded man opposite them, "Well... healers weren't what we needed at the gate at the moment. We needed soldiers."
The squire opened his eyes again and looked up at his master. Alfon had a sly smile waiting for him, "But if you prefer, I can find some suitable punishment for a mutinous brat like you!" he finished with a wink.
Link laughed. It hurt to laugh, but it also felt good. It was the first time he had laughed in months.
Softly, the injured man let out a long groan. The marshal quickly straightened his back and motioned to the nurse to tend to him. Link looked curiously up at his master.
"They were chasing him." Alfon whispered, "He hasn't said much - something about the ranch just outside of the castle."
Link struggled to sit up again, "He might know Malon!" he exclaimed.
At the mention of the girl's name, the wounded man started struggling against the nurse. He babbled and cried out "Malon! Malon!" several times, while she desperately tried to calm him and administer some medicine.
"Quiet lad!" Hissed Alfon, "He's near the edge already. It might kill him!"
He reached down and helped the boy into a seated position. Link watched the poor man struggle and whimper as the nurse continued to fight with him. From what the squire could see, his entire body was wrapped in bandages and his right arm ended in a bloody stump.